GADSDEN COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
October 2005 PACE EH Progress Report

To:                 Daniel Parker, M.S., and GAL
                        Assistant Division Director, Division of Environmental Health

From:             Betty Johnson
                        PACE EH Coordinator

Subject:         Gadsden County Environmental Health Community Project Monthly Progress Report

Project Summary

On Monday October 24, 2005, we held our ninth PACE EH meeting at the Gadsden County Public Library in Quincy. At this months meeting we discussed Septic Systems. The PACE Coordinator and Team Members continue to focus on our environmental health community project, as well as additional ways of educating the communities and residents of environmental health issues in the county.

Guest speakers at this months meeting were Sandy Sheridan, and Addie Brooks-Environmental Specialists II with the Gadsden County Health Department/Environmental Health Division.

The residents and PACE members were able to gain knowledge on the Basic Septic Systems Components; how do septic systems work, and why/how to maintain your septic system? Other pertinent information included system description, and operation. The members and residents were especially interested in the three most important reasons for maintaining your system.

1. Poor maintenance results in failed systems requiring repairs at a minimum and sometimes system replacement. Repairs or replacement costs can be thousands of dollars, whereas a periodic inspection and pumping costs about $100.00.
2. The health of your family, your community and the environment. Untreated sewage contains disease-causing bacteria and viruses, as well unhealthy amounts of nitrate and other chemicals. Failed septic systems can allow untreated sewage to seep into wells, groundwater, and surface water bodies, where people get their drinking and recreate.
3. The health of your economy. Contamination of water bodies by failed septic system pollutes water supplies, closes shellfish beds and recreational areas, and creates offensive odors. Quality of life, recreational opportunities, livelihoods and tourism decline, and with them go the property values and economic vitality

The members and residents were presented with a Septic System Homeowners Guide& Record Keeping Folder. The members requested that discussion be continued on Septic System for the next meeting, to allow them the opportunity to present this information to more community members and invite them to the next meeting, especially residents of the Midway area.

There were seven people that attended the October 24, PACE-EH meeting. The meeting started at 6 p.m. and ended at 7:45 p.m. The PACE EH Coordinator continues to look for additional ways in bringing the attendance up for future meetings, so that the residents of this county are made more aware of environmental health issues in Gadsden County.

The PACE-EH Coordinator continues to post all up coming meetings in the three local Gadsden County Newspapers (Twin City News, Gadsden County Times and Havana Herald). Flyers are posted throughout the City of Quincy, Midway, Chattahoochee, and Havana areas.

Topic of discussion for next months meeting will conclude discussion on Septic Tanks, and Drug Trafficking.

PACE EH Planning Process

PACE-EH 13 Tasks	Action	Outcome	Target Date
Task 1: Determine community capacity	Based on the community concerns and needs, Gadsden County has the propensity to undertake the PACE project and carry out a community based environmental assessment in this community. Develop a community profile	Completed Completed	10/18/04
Task 2: Define & characterize the community	Form an Environmental Health Leadership Team (EHLT)
Task 3: Assemble Community Health Environmental Team	1st Community Meeting o Introduce the project o Discuss environmental health issues o Encourage community involvement o Develop and shape Community Environmental Health Assessment Team	Completed	10/18/04
Task 4: Define the goals, objectives, and scope of the assessment	Establish goals and objectives for the assessment Describe the vision that will guide the process Describe the scope of issues to be addressed by the assessment Define key terms	Completed	12/20/04
Task 5: Generate a list of environmental health issues	Evaluate and select data-gathering method(s) Collect data on community concerns Collect data on community knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions Create a manageable list of issues	Completed	02/05
Task 6 Analyze the issues with a systems framework	Understand the framework Identify the connections among health status, affected populations, exposure factors, environmental agents/conditions, contributing factors and behaviors, and public health protection factors for selected environmental health issues.	Completed	04/2005
Task 7: Develop Locally Appropriate Indicators	Develop list of potential indicators Identify key indicators based on selected criteria	Completed	07/2005
Task 8: Select standards Against Which Local Status Can be Completed	Identify externally driven standards Agree upon locally appropriate standards	Task 8 deals with the determination of what the indicators discuss about the communitys environmental health.	09/2005
Task 9: Create Issues Profiles	Adopt a standardized format for organizing information Gather information Collect data for locally developed indicators Develop a summary statement	Completed	10/2005

Note: Currently, we have completed task nine and moving forward.

Issues/Problems

There are no major issues or problems to report at this time. The PACE EH Coordinator continues to explore ways of getting more residents to attend the meetings.

Gadsden County Environmental Health Leadership Team:

Name	Address	Organization
Captain Gerald McSwain Quincy Police Department Captain	121 East Jefferson St. Quincy, FL 321351	Quincy Police Department
Billy Keyser Service Representative	118 Deerwood Circle Quincy, FL 32352	Quincy Social Security Office
Sylvester Henderson Parent/PTA President	811 W. 7th St. Quincy, FL	Concerned Gadsden County Citizen
Beryl Richardson Gadsden CHD	P.O. Box 1000 Quincy, FL 32353	Cardiovascular Health
Officer Tim Murray	121 East Jefferson Street Quincy, FL 32351	Quincy Police Department
Sharon Saulter Migrant Program Coordinator HQ Environmental Health	4052 Bald Cypress Way Bin A08 Tallahassee, FL	Citizen
Ed and Marylyn Feaver	115 Byrd Road Quincy FL 32351	Concerned Citizens
Cedric Spradley	682 Millwood Drive Havana FL 32333	Faith Based Organization Pastor
James Akins	P O Box 614 Chattahoochee, Florida 32324	North-side Seafood Restaurant owner
Patricia Brown	104 N. Adams Street Quincy, Florida 32351	Community Action Program
Patti Gomez	P O Box 65 Greensboro, Florida 32330	Business Owner (Housekeeping) Volunteer-Outreach in community
Sharon Martellaro	1406 Osceola Street Quincy, Florida 32351	Office Manager-Solomon Const.
Verda Owens	P O Box 491 Midway, Florida 32343	Former Midway-Mayor Concerned Citizen
Dedric Streeter	1127 Sherwood lane Chattahoochee, Florida 32324	Big bend Workforce Agency-Quincy
Barbara Stout	27 N. shadow Street Quincy, Florida 32351	St. Thomas Catholic Church Administrator Catholic Social Services
Alexandria Walters	489 Shiloh Road Quincy, Florida 32351	Attorney-Attorney Generals Office-Leon/Former Attorney-DCF-Quincy
Willie Saucier	Gretna, Florida 32332	Gadsden County Animal Control
Carla Frye	Quincy, Florida 32351	Probation Officer-Leon
Lillie M. Smith	Gretna, Florida 32323	Concerned Citizen
Lavone Hill	534 Dusty House Road Quincy, Florida 32351	Foster Parent
Ruby Hart	1001 Hutchinson Ferry Road Quincy, Florida 32351	DCF-employee
Timothy Dixon	1189 High Bridge Road Quincy, Florida 32351	Concerned Citizen

The Environmental Health Leadership Team will include additional members who represent the key agencies/organizations in the Gadsden County community.

Schedule of Activities/Meetings:

Activities/Meetings	Date/Location	Contact Person	Outcome
PACE CEHAT Meeting	October 18, 2004 Gadsden CHD	Vivian R. Howard	Great meeting - CEHAT members selected, brought out possible issues, gave commitment forms to CEHAT members
PACE CEHAT Meeting	November 15, 2004 Gadsden CHD	Vivian R. Howard	Good meeting - chose chair and vice chair for community meeting, adopted survey
PACE Communitywide Meeting	December 20, 2004 Gadsden County Public Library	Vivian R. Howard	Great success - passed out first surveys, good feedback on issues
PACE Communitywide Meeting	January 17, 2005 Gadsden County Public Library	Vivian R. Howard	Vivian R. Howard Discussed drafting new animal control ordinance. Also, revisiting current code enforcement rules
PACE Communitywide Meeting	February 21, 2005 Gadsden County Public Library	Melissa Brock	Discussed animal control ordinance issues. Discussing developing a draft amendment ordinance to submit to BOCC.
PACE Community Wide Meeting	March 21, 2005	Melissa Brock	Reviewed draft animal control ordinance. Discussed drinking water article.
PACE Community Wide Meeting	April 18, 2005	Melissa Brock	Upcoming
PACE Community Wide Meeting	May 2005 (No meeting held for the month of May-the new PACE- EH Coordinator, Betty Johnson started on May 13, 2005).	Betty Johnson	No meeting held for the month of May
PACE Community Wide Meeting	June 20, 2005 Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners Office	Betty Johnson	Great meeting! Regardless of the small turnout. Additional CEHAT were selected. Some were unable to attend, due to prior engagements. We do expect a larger turnout at the July 18th meeting. On e of the Gadsden County Animal Control Officer attended the meeting and provided valuable information to members, who appeared very attentive as he spoke. Questions were asked and he answered all questions accordingly. Several handouts provided regarding dog bites and other pertinent information as to how to keep children safe, as well as adults. The drafting of the animal control ordinance was discussed briefly by Bill Keyser. Copies of the Drinking Water Article from the Environmental Health Corner and Surveys results were also passed out and discussed.
PACE Community Wide Meeting	July 18, 2005 Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners Office	Betty Johnson	Very good meting!! Only seven people attended this months meeting. Discussion included Mosquito Control problem in Gadsden County. Mac Dunn-with Gadsden County Mosquito Control Agency was speaker at the Julys meeting. Also, on the agenda to speak was the Division of Forestry-Shawn Duggar, who was unable to attend, due to illness. Mr. Duggar would like to be added to the agenda to speak at a later date. Also, Animal Control Officer, Willie Saucer was presented. He discussed issues and concerns of the Gadsden County Animal Control Agency. Other items discussed were Drinking Water Quality in Midway, Florida and updating of the current animal control ordinance for the county.
PACE Community Wide Meeting	August 22, 2005 Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners Office	Betty Johnson	Great meeting once again!!! Twelve people attended this months meeting. Speaker at this months meeting was Maureen OBrien of the Gadsden County Humane Society. Team members and other concerned citizens were able to review the Animal Control ordinance draft review to be submitted to the Gadsden county Board of County commissioners. PACE and the Gadsden Humane Society are working in collaboration in having the ordinance draft and approved by the Board.
PACE Community Wide Meeting	September 26, 2005 Gadsden County Public Library-Quincy	Betty Johnson	Great and informative meeting! Ten people attended this months meeting. Two additional residents of the county were present at this months meeting. Also, Michael Redig-Division of Environmental Protection, and Elliott Duggar-Division of Forestry were guest speakers at the meeting. Discussion included trash burning and toxic waste materials. The group was educated on various waste materials in and outside of the home, rules and regulations regarding trash burning without a permit, and violation/fines for 1st offense.
PACE EH Community Wide Meeting	October 24, 2005	Betty Johnson	Very informative meeting! Residents and members of the October meeting requested that we continue to discuss septic systems for the next meeting. Members would like to bring in additional residents from their community-to enable them to gain more knowledge regarding their septic system, especially in the Midway, Florida area. Members and residents attending the last meeting were able to gain knowledge on Basic Septic System Components, and how do septic systems works, and why/how to maintain your septic system? Discussion at the next meeting shall conclude Septic Systems and Drug Trafficking.

Past Gadsden County Reports:

August/September, 2004

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For more information on this project, contact Addie Brooks, EH Director, or Betty Johnson, PACE EH Coordinator, at the Gadsden County Health Department.

GADSDEN COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT October 2005 PACE EH Progress Report